Intercession
by The Sage of Spirits
Summary: If there was one thing Kratos was grateful to Lloyd for, it was saving him from the scariest kind of creature he had ever faced.


**Intercession**

Kratos sighed, roaming the halls of Welgaia. It was a boring day. The Chosen's Journey was still a few years off, and surprisingly, Lord Yggdrasil had nothing new for him. Add to the fact that he just finished his work – which he had fallen behind on, he really had nothing to do. Well, almost nothing. He was forgetting one important thing.

Kratos entered the room and stood behind the occupied chair. "Lloyd, what are you doing?" Kratos asked, looking down at Lloyd's desk. Lloyd had books and papers all over it.

"I'm actually taking a break from schoolwork." Lloyd said, shifting the papers around. "I was just about to work on something else, though I don't really know what." he said, looking up at Kratos with a smile. "Anyway, what's up, Dad? I thought you had some work to do."

Kratos smiled back. "I finished the work, and surprisingly, there's nothing new for me to do. So until Lord Yggdrasil has something, I'm free." he said, pulling Lloyd's chair out from underneath his desk. "So while I'm free, we are going to do something." he said, throwing a pair of arms around Lloyd.

"Alright. What are we going to do then?" Lloyd asked, forcing Kratos' arms off of him. He stood up and pushed his chair in. "Well, I'm ready."

Kratos placed his hands onto Lloyd's shoulders, a light smile on his face. "No you are not. You need something else where we are going." he said, walking to Lloyd's closet. He pulled out a pair of trunks. "Well, we are almost ready. If you want me to join in with you, I need to get mine." he said, exiting the room.

Lloyd stood there, his mouth gaping. Still in shock, he waited for Kratos to return. "We… we're going to Altamira?"

"Of course we are. I'm getting the unrevealing bathing suit. I do not want to deal with women checking me out…" he said with a sigh. "Well, I'm going to alert Lord Yggdrasil of our plans, so get ready. Put things such as an extra set of clothing, lotions and towels in while I'm gone." he said, exiting again.

Lloyd beamed a smile, charging to an empty wingpack. He then ran over to his closet, digging through it to find something else to wear. He smirked when he found the outfit Yuan got him from Meltokio. "I think this will do." he said, running his hands through the white ribbons by the neck collar. He carefully folded it, placing it into the wingpack. He hurried over to the storage closet, spotting Kratos on the other end of the room. "Oh, hey Dad. I was just going to get the lotions."

"No need, I decided to get them and come through this way. I also grabbed the towels and even an umbrella to hide under." Kratos said, hands indeed full with said items. He walked out of the connecting storage closet and into Lloyd's room, placing the umbrella, lotions and clothes into the wingpack. "Alright, I think that is everything that we need. Come close, Lloyd, and I'll take us to the outskirts of the city." he said. Lloyd grabbed the wingpack and stood next to Kratos, who grabbed his arm. The mana swirled around them, and they soon disappeared.

* * *

"Dad, this is great!" Lloyd shouted, a smile breaking through. He ran down the stairs and onto the beach. He turned around, expecting to find Kratos right behind him. Instead, Kratos was still waiting at the stairs. "What are you waiting for?"

Kratos grunted. "I'm scanning the beach." he said, eyes narrowed slightly. He smirked when he saw all of the women with other men. "Alright, now I will come."

Lloyd sighed. "Dad, why can't we just attack them if they go after you?" he said as Kratos walked alongside him.

Kratos glanced at him, followed by a sigh. "Because you cannot just kill people for fun or in public without a better reason." he said, walking toward the water. "Ah, that feels nice."

Lloyd looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What…?"

"The sand was hot, was it not?" Kratos said with a weak nudge to the arm, quickly splashing some water onto Lloyd, who winced at the water hitting his face. "I'm sure that would cool you off." he said with a light chuckle, pointing to a spot on the beach. "This area looks good enough. There are not many people here, especially younger women."

Lloyd chuckled to himself. "You aren't going to drop that, are you?"

"Well, it is the curse of looking this young, of course, and being as old as I am." he said, raising his eyebrow. A twisted frown formed on his face. "After having your mother around, I feel that I cannot forget her. And I have you, after all. I'm content with all that."

Lloyd gagged jokingly to himself, sticking his finger in his mouth. "Man, Dad, that was pretty corny." he said, laughing lightly. He knelt onto the towel Kratos had placed onto the sand and hugged him. "But I still love you, Dad."

Kratos smirked. "There was not a doubt in my mind." he said, releasing Lloyd from his grip. He dug into the wingpack, grabbing the lotion. "Here, let me put some of the special lotion on you." he said. Lloyd whined and moaned. "Lloyd, our skin is not used to having sun shine on it. And I'll be the one to hear about it if you get sunburn, or worse." he said, squirting the lotion onto his hands. "At least you already took off your shirt before we got onto the beach. That saves you time already." he said, rubbing the lotion onto Lloyd's back.

Lloyd sighed as Kratos rubbed the lotion onto him. He did not like being forcibly turned so that every place on him had protection. "Are you done yet?" he said with a sigh, eyes staring at the ocean. He wanted to dive deep and explore!

"Almost, just need to get your face." Kratos said, roughly turning Lloyd around again. Lloyd closed his eyes. "There." he said, watching Lloyd open his eyes. He looked around, expecting more. "No, I truly am finished. Go ahead, play, swim, do what you will. I'm going to sit here for a bit." he said, rubbing his arms with lotion.

Lloyd rolled his eyes. "Why can't we swim together or something?"

"We can do that later." Kratos said, running his hands down his legs. "For now, I want to relax here. Go on, have fun. Just do not forget to come up for air. Normal people breath, you know."

"Alright, alright…" Lloyd said, turning toward the ocean. He grinned. "Here I come!" he said, running toward the water. He was splashed by the oncoming wave, and laughed. Going further out, he dove under.

Kratos sighed contently to himself, listening to the calming waves and the crows of the birds flying above. This truly was what he had needed. He watched as Lloyd popped up and down, as per requested, and continued to listen. Welgaia was nothing like this, yes, but having peace and quiet had its moments. He had not paid any attention to time.

"Oh wow, I forgot how fast time flies here. Those two hours flew by fairly quickly…" Kratos said with a frown. "Well, better go off and have fun with Lloyd now." he said, looking out into the water to spot Lloyd.

"Look! Look at him!"

Kratos flinched.

"Aww! Looks like we found a shy one! He's keeping his chest covered!"

Kratos twitched.

"Yeah, he must be really well-toned if he doesn't want anyone to look at him."

Kratos wished he could feel the sweat rolling down his neck. He would have shivered.

"No wonder he's at this end of the beach by himself. He doesn't want anyone to find him."

_Oh no…_ Kratos thought, paling.

"Well, he's too good-looking to just leave him alone!"

Kratos turned slowly, eyes widening. He wished he had not seen the hordes of crazed creatures staring at him. Crazed, single women. He did not need to be told twice; he ran for it.

"Don't let him get away!" one said, and they all rampaged down the beach like crazed animals on a hunt.

Kratos truly wished that he could simply fly away, but he could not reveal himself in public. And then there was Lloyd to think about. He could not leave Lloyd behind. But for now, all he could do was run. He had to get away from these rabid hellhounds first. He gasped in despair as he reached the end of the beach. He had to think of something quick. The ocean! He could lose them there. He ran as quickly as he could to get to the water. _There, that should give them the slip._

"He went into the water! After him, girls!"

_Oh no, not again!_ he thought as he dove under, swimming deeper. He then swam as fast as he could along the shoreline. He popped up for a quick breath, not that he needed it, but more to see how close they were. And every time, he swam harder. He soon found a figure at the top and froze. How could they have caught up to him?

"Dad!" Kratos widened his eyes, looking up. "Dad, you're here! Awesome."

"Lloyd, not now. I have rabid hordes of females on my tail." Kratos said hurriedly and was about to swim past him. However, Lloyd grabbed his arm. "Lloyd, what are you doing?"

"I'll take care of this." Lloyd said, his eyes narrowed angrily and lips twisted in annoyance. He watched as the women caught up to them.

"Oh thanks, little guy! You kept him in place!"

"Shut up and leave my Dad alone!" Lloyd said, hands running along the surface. He pushed the water roughly, creating a huge splash.

"Ah! Geez!"

"Wait, did he say 'Dad?'"

"Yeah, I think he did!"

"Ew, never mind. I don't want to look after a kid…"

"Me neither! And he's a rough little punk! Swim away! I repeat, swim away!"

Kratos stared at the retreating women, utterly flabbergasted. "Lloyd, how did you-?"

Lloyd grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "It's something Yuan taught me. He said that that's how Lord Yggdrasil had to bail you out of these kinds of problems before. At least this time, it's more believable, or so he says. We look a lot alike, so they shouldn't be able to question it."

Kratos shook his head, smiling. "Well, I'm glad that's over with." he said, placing his hand onto his forehead. He saw Lloyd looking away, and he raised his eyebrow. "What's the matter?"

Lloyd grinned sheepishly once more, chuckling weakly. He winced. "Is it a bad time to ask you to go for a swim?"

* * *

_Yes, Lloyd, it might just be a bad time. Heheh. No offense to women, as men can be like this too. But I mean, it truly is scary to have to see. _o_O _Poor Kratos just cannot catch a break from being chased by women thinking he's young and single. (Well, he is still dedicated to Anna, after all.) For him, that would be scarier than say, fighting Mithos. I know it has been done before, but I couldn't help myself. _XD_ Well, another late one, but at least I'm consistent. lol _n.n'_ I actually like this one. I think it's because of how I ended it. I dunno about the rest of you, but I enjoyed writing it. Anyway, I don't own Tales, and review please. _


End file.
